Parashat Nitzavim (נצבים)-Vayelekh (וילך) — Stranger Danger

In this week’s Torah portion, Moses tells the Israelites that “you stand this day, all of you, before the LORD your God…even the stranger within the camp, from woodchopper to water drawer” (Deuteronomy 29:9-10). The Hebrew text does not intimate a separation between the “strangers” and the “Israelites,” but the rabbinic commentator Panim Yafot (18th Century, Poland & Germany) points to how even in this text the strangers the Israelites must be wary of strangers. As we approach the High Holidays and open our communities to all people who seek Jewish wisdom, how does this text help us (and how does it NOT help us) understand how to welcome strangers into our communities?

Join us for this timely class as we head into the High Holiday season.